Alf Roberts
Alfred Sidney Ro berts was a character in Coronation Street intermittently from 1961 to 1971 but regularly from 1972 to Ep 4535 - 1 Jan 1999. Alf ran the Corner Shop for many years and later became Mayor of Weatherfield. He loved his Brylcreem. Alf was played by Bryan Mosley. Biography Backstory Alfred Sidney Roberts was born on the 7th October 1926 in Weatherfield to Sidney Roberts and Eileen Roberts. He had an older brother Malcolm Roberts. In 1949 aged 23 Alf married his deceased brothers wife Phyllis Roberts. They never had any children. 1961-1972 Alf Roberts worked as an accounts clerk at the GPO and was a friend of Len Fairclough and occasionally visited Coronation Street. In 1971, Alf took over the running of the Corner Shop, Coronation Street. He moved into the flat above. In 1972, Alf's wife Phyllis died of cancer. 1973-1999 Alf married Renee Bradshaw in 1978 and they ran The Corner Shop together. In 1979, Alf was injured when a lorry crashed into The Rovers Return. He was psychologically scarred. He made a full physical recovery and returned to work but he was prone to rages. He even insulted Annie Walker one time. Alf got help and soon recovered. In July 1980, Alf and Renee went on a weekend away. They were stopped at roadworks and Alf got out of the car to swap places with Renee who was driving, but a lorry drove the other way down the road and did not see Renee until the last second and had a head on collision into the car. Renee was rushed to hospital with severe injuries but died on the operating theatre table. Alf took time to grieve. In 1985 he dated Audrey Potter and that year he modernised The Corner Shop. He even offered Hilda Ogden money to sell No 13 to expand his shop but she declined. The shop had remained virtually unchanged inside since 1902 when the street was built, save for a meat cutter and modern till. Alf had new modern shelves installed, new freezer units, and the counter was situated near the front door. In 1988, Audrey's son Stephen had a car crash, and she flew out to Canada and Stephen's adoptive father Malcolm Reid allowed her to stay with him in Canada. Malcolm wanted Audrey to stay with him in Canada and not return to England to see Alf. In July 1988, Malcolm flew to England to see where he stood with Audrey. She let him stay with him, much to Alf's annoyance. Malcolm did not reveal his true intentions and claimed he was just over here to see family and friends. Away from Alf, Malcolm said he wanted Audrey to go back to Canada with him but she refused. Malcolm tried to get it on with Audrey during a trip to Blackpool. Alf had found Malcolm was going on the trip and drove down to make sure he was not trying to seduce Audrey. Alf saw them riding a landau and quickly returned to Weatherfield and told Malcolm to leave and never return. Audrey said she would never have left Alf for Malcolm. Malcolm returned to Canada, never to be seen again. In 1991, Alf and Audrey split up. She tried to contact Malcolm Reid but found he was engaged. Her and Alf soon got back together. In 1993, Alf retired but was bored and returned to running the shop. In 1995, Alf became Major and wanted to rename Coronation Street as Roberts Street but decided against it. In late 1997, Alf started to feel weaker and more tired. He lost a lot of weight and looked more frail than he did at the start of the year. In 1998, Fred Elliott kept wining and dining Audrey, as they were working with the local council to get Audrey elected as Councillor. Alf was jealous of his friend's friendship with his wife and told Fred to stay away. Fred had a thick skin so took the warning on the chin. On New Years Eve 1998, Alf attended the party at the Platt household. During the party he felt tired saing he could not keep up with the young lot, and sat down in a chair. Just after midnight on the 1st January 1999, Alf died in his sleep among the music and dancing. His life insurance policy ran out at midnight on New Years Eve. He was still alive after midnight but died a few minutes later so Audrey was not entitled to anything. Martin, who worked as a male nurse, said that Alf was still alive after midnight. Poor Audrey, no holidays to Tenerife then? At his funeral Mike taunted Fred Elliott telling him to go cop off with the widow. (Fred may have been secretly pleased that Alf had died so it could pave the way for him and Audrey. However they did not enter a relationship until several years later when he would pop his clogs from a stroke on his wedding day to Audrey). Alf's Legacy Due to being the former Mayor of Weatherfield, Alf was well known in the area and is often mentioned and remembered, especially by Audrey. In 2009, 10 years after Alf died, David Platt tried to frame Gary Windass over a robbery so he staged a robbery at Audrey's house while she was away. David hid some of Audrey's things so that Gary would not know it is David's gran's house as he knew her. David saw the painting of the long deceased Alf and smiled, as he knew no way would Gary have ever known who Alf Roberts was. David said to himself "No way will Windbag know who you are", as if he was talking to Alf himself. In December 2017, Audrey unfairly compared Craig Tinker to her long dead husband Alf. In 2018, a clairvoyant medium Rosemary Piper told Audrey that Alf has contacted her from the dead. Memorable info Appearances: 8 February–23 October 1961, 15–24 October 1962, 9 January–27 February 1963, 26 August–18 November 1963, 6–27 March 1967, 12–24 July 1967, 8–17 February 1971, 17 May 1971–28 June 1991, 4 November 1991–14 March 1997, 5 November 1997–18 February 1998, 5 July 1998–1 January 1999 Born: 7th October 1926 Died: 1st January 1999 Full Name: Alfred Sidney Roberts Parents: Sidney Roberts and Eileen Roberts Siblings: Malcolm Roberts Spouse: Phyllis Plant (1950-1972), Renee Bradshaw (1978-1980), Audrey Potter (1985-1999) Children: No biological ones, 2 step children, Stephen Reid and Gail Platt. Trivia *Though married 3 times, Alf never had any children by any of those wives. He had 2 grown up step children, Gail and Stephen when he married his 3rd wife Audrey Potter. Gallery Corrie alf 1974.png|Alf in 1974 with Maggie Clegg. Corrie alf 1991.png|Alf in 1991. corrie alf and roy.png|Alf and Roy in 1997. Corrie alf.png|Alf in 1998. Corrie 1 jan 1999.png|Alf dies on the 1st January 1999. Category:Coronation Street Characters. Category:Past characters. Category:Characters first seen in 1961. Category:Characters last seen in 1999. Category:Roberts. Category:Grocers. Category:1926 births. Category:1950 Marriages Category:1985 Marriages Category:1999 Deaths Category:Corner Shop Owners Category:Deceased characters Category:1978 Marriages Category:Iconic Coronation Street characters Category:Guest characters who became regulars